Owners of motorcycles and snowmobiles or other vehicles having no reverse gear have a problem from time to time after such vehicle has been parked in a garage or the like. Motorcycles, for example, must be manually turned around so that they can be driven out of a garage after having been driven into such garage. This is especially a problem when the motorcycle is large or the person trying to turn it around is small. Similarly, when a snowmobile is driven into a garage, then it is very difficult to get it turned around to be driven out of the garage.
One solution to the aforementioned problem is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,326 to Poissant which proposes to use a turntable which is rather high, but which tips down in order to permit a snowmobile to be driven thereon. Such a mechanism is extremely difficult to use and the snowmobile operator is in a rather precarious position once the snowmobile comes to rest upon such turntable platform. Because of the complicated operation of such device, it has not come into considerable commercial usage since it was patented in 1971.
Another solution to the aforementioned problem is proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,971 to Merrick which proposes to use an auxiliary ramp to permit a snowmobile to move up on an elevated turntable. While this approach has some practical aspects thereto, still it would be preferable if this additional ramp element was not needed and for this reason it would be desirable to produce a turntable which could eliminate the need for such auxiliary ramp.
The two aforementioned ramp structures are in many respects two older approaches to turntables, such as U.S. Pat. No. 1,853,980 to Jordal, which utilizes a tipping turntable, U.S. Pat. No. 2,135,924 to Toews, patented in 1938, which has an elevated turntable for automobiles and U.S. Pat. No. 2,952,221 to Hobel patented in 1960, which is a turntable for automobiles which is somewhat complicated in nature. A still further turntable mounted on a trailer and having a ramp attached thereto is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,214 to Sorg et al. which was patented in 1970. It can be appreciated from inspecting the aforementioned patents that while the problem of turning a vehicle has been recognized for decades, there has not been a practical solution for those persons wishing to have a small compact unit for turning motorcycles or snowmobiles in their own home garage.